August 2008

Horse Question... Conformational Problem

Hi Dr. T,

I came across your name regarding a question someone had about a horse and
thought perhaps I could ask you one of my own. I am looking to purchase a particular 4 year
old buckskin mare potentially to do amateur barrel racing. The only fault physically in her is that her right
front hoof is slightly turned out. It
does not affect her gait and she is still incredibly sound and sure-footed,
however I am not sure if it would be safe for her heath to begin training her
for barrels as they are quick turns and sudden stops. Do you have any information on this topic? The current owner assures me that this condition
is not due to an injury of any sorts, but that she was born this way. Thank you
so much,

-S

Dear S,

I would venture to say you'd have no problems with this horse as long as you
don't attempt to correct her conformation with special shoeing or too radical
of trimming. The horse knows exactly where her hooves are and will
compensate no problem. I have horses myself with severe limb conformation
problems and they perform at a high level with no interferences. Ones I
have tried to "fix" or use "therapeutic" shoes they start
to have problems they didn't have before.

That being said, you don't want
to allow the conformation to get worse, and through consistent and respectful
trimming and balancing the hooves the way they are, and not giving in to
flaring and imbalances, you can keep the horse going just fine. Many vets
and farriers will attempt to "scare" an owner into special procedures
and/or shoeing in cases like this, and for the greatest percentage of the
cases, it's totally unwarranted and unnecessary. They simply don't know and understand how it
all works, and this ignorance gets passed on to the owner.

A small conformational problem isn't a career-ending thing
for a horse. Ride and be happy.